June 16, 2002
4 min. read
This post is part of the Trans-Am series.
I got a chance to sleep well last night. Paul, Grace and 3 of the 4 kids left headed home last night. Ruth and Noah had headed out Friday night, because Noah’s pinkeye was still contagious. The last night was just Dave (the owner of the cabin), Mark (Ruth’s husband), Daniel and I. Dave was up early to meet my dad at the airport. I was planning on stopping by the airport on my way out and catching dad before he left for flying back to Louisville.
I started packing up my things and Mark and I started getting the cabin back in order. We had to sort through the food in the fridge and make sure that we had everything we brought. I looked around for a while to find my little camp pillow and I came up empty. I’m guessing that one of my sisters accidentally packed it up with their things. I’ll cope without it.
Mark put in “Leave It To Beaver” for Daniel to watch and we all sat down once we finished packing up. I had never seen the new version and it was funny how much they tried to mimic the older series. When we finally started to head out, it had started raining. It didn’t look like it would let up anytime soon, so I briefly considered another night at the cabin. A little mileage is better than none, so I started out anyway.
What was a sprinkling shower quickly became a serious downpour and I started getting wet through my rain jacket. You either have a perfectly waterproof rain jacket and get saturated with your sweat, or a jacket with enough ventilation and get saturated with hard rain. It isn’t about staying dry, just staying warm. I stopped after 3 miles and put on my rain pants. I grabbed some lunch and snacks and continued on.
My cycle computer went out in the rain, so I have to rely on my GPS mileage. I’m going to have to figure out a good way to waterproof the connections. I finally arrived at the Rough River Dam State Park and turned in. I noticed the RV-6 (airplane) that my dad and Dave had built. Cool, I thought, I had caught him. But something didn’t look right. The prop was turning. Hmmm. I started to push hard for the parking lot, but witnessed the taxi and takeoff before I reached it. Dave saw me an let out a laugh, “You missed him by 30 seconds.” he said. I told him that I had seen and dad would be a little upset when he found out. I should have called, but I didn’t want to hold him up. I figured if he was gone before I got there, that was OK. If he wasn’t, I would sit in the room there and wait for him. I never thought it would be that close. Oh, well. I had to call him after he landed at home to say “Happy Father’s Day.”
I had really wanted to ride further today, but it is amazing how being soaking wet for almost 2 hours takes away your desire to be on the bike. I’ll camp at the airport and get a good start tomorrow. There are hot showers and a nice room with AC, where I can work with the computer. I didn’t get as much done with the pictures and such, because of all the children to play with. My cell signal is strong here, so I’ll see what I can get done.
I’m finishing supper at a little restaurant where dad left his cap at lunch. I found it and will be hauling it with me until dad meets up with me on Friday. He is on vacation and will be riding along for a while. Mom will be driving the van to the closest big town each day to do something. I won’t mind reducing my load somewhat, as we still have plenty of climbing until we reach Kansas.
Looks like I just crossed 1000 miles in this endeavor.
Rough River Dam State Park Airport, KY
Tent Site: 87 deg 36.763 min N, 86 deg 30.289 min W, elev. 640 ft
Trip Miles: 1000.9 miles
Part 33 of 48 in the Trans-Am series.
Series Start | Day 26 and 27 - Rough River Lake | Day 29 - Rough River Dam State Park to Sebree